Biodynamic /Permaculture Farmstead Internship. Port Townsend, WA

Hello! We are looking for a skill builder/intern for the upcoming season.

What it is: An affordable alternative learning opportunity to gain skills in permaculture, biodynamics, natural building and living in community. Some specifics you might learn include: plant propagation, building with cob, chicken husbandry, donkey husbandry, pasture management, animal feed management, making hay, basic construction, fermentation, organicgardening, grafting, pruning, food preservation, permaculture design, biodynamic preparations, mapping, veggie oil fuel, food forest guilds, compost, fence building, electrics, plumbing, mushroom cultivation etc. Its hard to say exactly, every season is a bit different and you simply cant predict everything that might get worked on along along the way.

At the moment, we are looking for a person who can commit to a full working season from April-September. This is important for the nature of the projects involved at the farm, and the amount of responsibility a skill builder can take on, but there is some limited room for flexibility if you are the right fit.

Each participant will be placed in charge and guided in the stewardship of:
• A collection of annual garden beds • A collection of perennial systems in varying stages of establishment
• A rotating monthly specialization (Nursery Management, Solarium Management, Kitchen Management, Garden Monitor, Foraging Specialist, Material Gathering)
These responsibilities will allow each participant to take ownership over specific areas of the property and have the opportunity to learn firsthand about maintenance, repair, care, and benefits of a wide variety of systems.

Additionally you will be able to attend our cob workshops, and a 5 day intensive mushroom permacultureworkshop that we will host.

We believe the best way to learn and to benefit the most from the opportunity is to live it out day to day along side with us. We keep to working 4-5 days scheduled a week, with the rest unscheduled.
That said we are looking at this as our opportunity to help you gain as much as possible so we ask that your stay here be focused on the farm. We want people who are fully present and prepared for an intensive experience. The nature of the work we do here requires folks who will be present on-site and willing to put this experience at the top of their priority list. Participants, like residents, are stewards of this land and are all actively responsible for its care and development. Developing the awareness and focus it takes to steward land as diverse as this is perhaps the most important education one could receive during an season at our homestead. This is our earth, we are all responsible.

Housing: To keep things simple there is a private bedroom in the common house. The common house is where all food is prepared and processed. As well it has the shower and bathroom, and all the modern amenities running water, electricity, and internet.

Who We Are: Earlwood, a fledgling radical farmstead 5 miles outside of Port Townsend, WA where 5 people are working together to create a diverse and healthy life and ecosystem. We are agriculturally based and we envision a world in which Nature is partner and model in all human enterprise, where humans take an active role in responsibly stewarding the land to create more biotic life, rather than destroying or exploiting it. Our way of life focuses on the interdependence of humans, plants, animals, soil and the encompassing ecosystem where humans act as designers, in which no part is greater than the next, but view the farmstead as a unique biological entity, with the end goal of becoming a whole farm organism. Our guiding forces are the principles of biodynamics, permaculture, deep ecology, mutual aid, and Anti-Oppression.

Do heed, we are just in the begging stages of building this kingdom and have only been on the land for a short time. Believing that nothing should go to waste we currently produce only some of our food, we food bank/dumpster a huge portion of the rest, we use composting toilets, build mostly out of trash, are mostly bike powered. We also are a food sharing household that shares at least 5 meals a week, if not all of them.

Currently we own five acres consisting of approximately two and a half acres of woods, two acres of pasture and garden, and half an acre for structures and human living space.
We also manage a 30 year old orchard across the road, and about 3 additional acres of the neighbors land as pasture. Plenty to keep us busy. We are a young homestead in only our second year. We are building a farm on a old gravel quarry, and at a place that was never a farm before. Its a large scale restoration project where we aim to grow a food forest, practice Biodynamics, design and build living dwellings with cob. Our first year gave a us a good start with animals, one cob dwelling, planting 22 fruittrees and starting a nursery.

There are many pieces to the puzzle here, but a huge component is animals. A pair of donkeys, lots of chickens, rabbits, a dog named Earl and a young heeler pup called Darla help to work the farm towards this goal. So experience with animals or excitement about them is a plus.

We are all working hard to not have a hierarchical structure, and to reverse the general trend of oppression. To address this we do have consensus (which you will learn about) meetings weekly, and a work load that is organized by the group.

When: April-Sept

Why? To gain experience in permaculture, biodynamics and natural building and make friends along the way! To work together to build a better world.

Cost: Unfortunately we dont have any way to make the internship free yet, property tax, cost of materials, utilities, and general capitalism still have us under their thumb. But we are doing our best to provide a inexpensive option. We want to make sure if you are paying you do walk away from here with more than what you came with. In addition you will be able to attend some workshops that would be a bit more costly while living with us (around $1000 worth of classes).

Rent for the private room is $165 a month.
Food is all shared communally so a contribution is must at $135 a month
Farm food production/maintenance/materials cost is $25 a month

We also split utilities (around 30 on the expensive end)

We understand this seems like allot, but considering what rent and food costs regularly for most people we think this is fair. The farmstead is not a buisness, so most of the work and labor you'll be doing will be for your own education and for your own personal food consumption.

Additionally there are opportunities in the area for off farm work on non scheduled days to make a little income.

best way to contact us and for more info visit our website quimpercob.wordpress.com